I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for fitting hinges and a door lock set to a door and door jamb assembly prior to installing the door and door jamb assembly in a building. More particularly, the present invention relates to such an apparatus which includes a main work unit for aligning a door and a door jamb and having a hinge template for routing a hinge mortise and drill guides for drilling holes necessary for a door lock set. The present invention also includes end vices which maintain the position of the door and door jamb when moving the main work unit and provide a routing guide for routing a header component.
II. Description of the Relevant Art
Doors are conventionally fitted to a door jamb after the door jamb has been installed in a doorway of a building structure. However, cutting or routing the recesses in the door and the door jamb are processes which are hampered because of the bulkiness of the door and the difficulty of properly aligning a door with the door jamb once installed.
As an alternative, doors and door jambs have been preassembled for fitting into a doorway. Such prehung doors offer a number of advantages over hanging a door after the jamb is installed. Among these advantages is the proper alignment of the door with the door jamb to allow accurate hinge placement.
However, known tools for prehanging doors are extremely bulky and heavy, and therefore their use has largely been limited to the shop or lumber yard setting.
One such apparatus for hanging doors is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,720 issued in 1974 to Converse, et al. The apparatus disclosed therein includes a frame having a series of clamps for clamping the door and the door jambs so as to facilitate the installation of hinges and locking devices. The frame carries both the door and the jambs to allow the worker access to the regions to be worked.
Because of the great mass and size of the frame, the apparatus of Converse is inconvenient and impractical for use in the field.
Accordingly, prior inventions have failed to eliminate the problems commonly associated with known apparatus for hinging a door to a door jamb.